Etymology

scambait

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Today it means: To pose as a potential victim of a scam, in order to waste the scammer's time and resources. Full definition →

English bait ← Middle English bayte ← Old Norse beita
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The story

  1. Englishscam
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeyd-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéydt
  4. Proto-Germanic*bītaną
  5. Proto-Germanic*baitijaną
  6. Old Norsebeita
  7. Middle Englishbayte
  8. Englishbait
  9. English todayscambait

From scam + -bait.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.